Not applicable.
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Not applicable.
The field of invention or the technical field can be broadly described as wood frame construction, or remodeling, of houses or other buildings. When a structure is built with a wood frame the supports are called xe2x80x9cstuds,xe2x80x9d they are usually sixteen inches apart and are usually two by fours, three by fours, or two by sixes. Holes are drilled in the studs so that wires and pipes can reach their final destination. For example, an electrical wire starts at the fuse box and in order to get to the light switch in your bedroom it has to pass through some walls and that means that it has to pass through holes drilled in studs. Similarly, water pipes often have to pass through a stud or two to get to their final destination.
As the full title of the invention (xe2x80x9cProtector Sleeve For Wires And Pipes In Wood Frame Constructionxe2x80x9d) indicates, the invention protects wires and pipes at the point where they pass through the wood stud. So, not only is the field of invention/technical field wood frame construction, it also crosses over into the filed of wiring (electrical, telecommunications, computer network, cable t.v, etc.) and into the field of plumbing.
A description of the prior, or related, art would be that there is currently only a protector plate. This is a flat steel rectangular plate, one sixteenth of an inch thick, one and a half inches wide, and between two and a half to five and a half inches tall. The protector plate is fastened to the exposed side of the two by four (the one and a half inch thickness of it exactly matches the thickness of the two by four). When the protector plate is in place any nails or screws coming from that direction can not penetrate the steel plate so they do not enter the wood and then reach the hole where the wire or pipe is.
The biggest problem with the prior art is that it does not protect the wire or pipe from nails or screws that can penetrate from the other side. Although a protector plate on each side of the two by four would protect from both sides it is not always possible to do this. Especially during remodelingxe2x80x94when only one side of a wall is open. If only one side of a wall is open only that side gets protected by a protector plate. Similarly, when dealing with exterior walls and the siding is already put in place, only the interior side of the stud gets protected with a protector plate. Since electricians and plumbers usually come onto a job after some walls and usually the siding is already in place it is just not possible to put protector plates on both sides of the wood when a hole is drilled.
Another problem with the prior art is that it does nothing to protect a wire, as it is being pulled through a drilled hole, from snagging on the usually jagged or splintery edges of the hole. A wire snagging on the jagged or splintery edges of a hole results in difficulty pulling the wire through and could cause rips in the plastic sheathing which covers and insulates the wire.
Yet another problem with the prior art is that it does very little to reinforce or strengthen the wood where the hole has been drilled through it.
The xe2x80x9cProtector Sleevexe2x80x9d is a cylindrical grommet/bushing, that looks like a short length of pipe, that fits snugly in any hole drilled through a stud in wood frame construction, and which has anchors on both sides to keep it in place. When the xe2x80x9cProtector Sleevexe2x80x9d is in place it shields the hole that was drilled and thereby protects the wire or pipe that the hole was drilled for from being punctured by any screw or nail that might be driven through the wall and into the stud. The xe2x80x9cProtector Sleevexe2x80x9d also serves to provide a smooth surface for wires to pass through as they are being pulled through several studs at a time towards their end point. The xe2x80x9cProtector Sleevexe2x80x9d also reinforces the stud where it was weakened by the hole that was drilled.